MIT9202 would be first South Pacific strain sequenced. This environment is very different from our two well-studied sites HOT and BATS, and it may select for traits such as high temperature tolerance. Photophysiology studies show that MIT9202 has the highest growth rate of any studied strain and that it grows best at higher intensities than most other strains.MIT9202 shares an identical ITS sequence with MIT9215 (Equatorial Pacific, 0m), another eMIT9312 strain that is currently being sequenced by the JGI. Despite their close phylogenetic relationship, we predict their genomes will be very different based on our previous work and the work of the Polz lab at MIT. The genome sequence of MIT9202 will provide the first opportunity for any group to compare two strains of environmental bacteria with identical ITS sequences and will aid our discussions of whether the ITS or 16S is sufficient as a diversity marker.